Black Mirror
by Screaming Faeries
Summary: Perhaps the most vain witches and wizards were born from the Black family. A lifetime of wealth and charisma tends to do that to a person. Drabbles about various members of the Black family. Most recent: Walburga's Loss - Orion/Walburga
1. Bad Taste in Shoes

_My Darling Walburga,_

 _I am missing you so dearly whilst I am forced to spend my gruelling work week in Scotland. You have been the soul thing on my mind every waking hour, every minute, every second._

 _During today I found a exceptionally sweet wizarding boutique, and I thought that these would look just wonderful on you - not that anything is needed to accentuate your beauty, of course. I hope you will like this present._

 _I cannot wait until the weekend, when I can return to Grimmauld Place to you and our beautiful young sons._

 _Thinking of you dearly, and keeping you in my heart,_

 _Your husband, Orion._

Walburga sneered at her husband's sentimental letter, as she lifted the lid off a brown paper box that the owl had brought along with the letter.

The box contained a pair of flat soled, chunky sandals made from dark green snakeskin, strapped with large, golden buckles. Her lip curled in disgust, and she tossed the box down on the bed.

"Urgh, I hate these shoes."

* * *

 **Hogwarts Speed Drabble:**

 **Prompts:** "Urgh, I hate these shoes", (word) letter, (word) darling.

 **Word count:** 178


	2. Mermaid Motel

Narcissa, eight years old, was floating around in the lake beside their holiday home in Dover. Bellatrix sat on the banking, scowling at her little sister.

Bellatrix knew what Narcissa was doing. Uncle Orion had told them a fancy tale at bedtime about a village of Merpeople under the lake, and Narcissa had been in awe. Since waking up that morning, the younger girl had dashed down to the lake in her swimwear and jumped straight into the icy depths. Despite Bellatrix's constant attempts to shun Narcissa for her hope to catch sight of a merperson, Narcissa was remaining silent and ignoring her older sister.

"You look ridiculous," called Bellatrix, as Narcissa dunked her head under the lake several times and emerged spluttering, as she tried to look under the water.

Narcissa heard her, but simply tossed her a dirty look and continued with what she was doing. Bellatrix watched as Narcissa dunked her head under the surface of the lake a few more times.

"This isn't a fairytale, you know!" Bellatrix yelled, furrowing her dark brow.

"Why don't you just bog off then, if you're so bothered about what I'm doing!" Narcissa suddenly shrieked back, slapping her hand down on the water and sending a wave in Bellatrix's direction.

Bellatrix raised her eyebrows at Narcissa's outburst, and climbed slowly to her feet. "I liked you better when you were mute," she sneered, before heading back into the house.

* * *

Speed Drabble:

Prompts: "This isn't a fairytale", "I liked you better when you were mute," (word) float

Word count: 261


	3. Little Trixie

Little Trixie

"Don't you want to play with your dollies, Trixie?" Cygnus Black asked his eight year old daughter, who was scowling into the fire, kicking her feet against the tiled floor. She shot him a dirty look.

"That's not my name!" she shrieked. Cygnus couldn't help but smile; she had always despised his little personal nickname for her.

"Come on, lets play with the dolls," he insisted. He was sitting down on the floor of the living room a little way away from her, and began to make the two little wooden dolls dance in a circle. "Narcissa's put some pretty dresses on them."

"I'm too old for dolls," she grumbled, though Cygnus noticed the way her curious dark eyes darted towards the toys. With a grin, Cygnus crawled closer and shuffled the doll with dark, curly hair towards her.

Bellatrix picked it up, stroking the wiry curls between her fingers for a few moments, and staring down into its inky eyes. Cygnus was making the other, blonder doll hop towards her, making little noises as he did so. She glared at her father, thinking him ridiculous.

"This is stupid," she snarled, and in one swift move, she'd thrown the doll into the fire. "I want to play with your wand."

Though he sighed, Cygnus couldn't help but smile. The older she got, the more he grew to adore Bellatrix's arrogant little personality.

* * *

 **Written for The Weird Prompt Strikes Back challenge, with the prompt: (situation) Father/Daughter bonding**


	4. Fear of the Witch

Fear of the Witch

Orion fidgeted with the starch, uncomfortable collar of his robes as he approached Grimmauld Place.

He was nothing but a quivering mass of nerves. Today was the day - the love of his life had turned seventeen, and she was therefore eligible in his father's eyes. Deep down, he was glad that this day had come; happy that there was the chance he would spend the rest of his life with Walburga. But he was also terrified.

Walburga, even at just the ripe age of seventeen, was a horror of a woman. She didn't want to be a quiet wife who sat back and let her husband make the decisions - she wanted to lead the roost. She was outspoken and arrogant, narrow-eyed and suspicious of every move made.

Quite frankly, Walburga scared the living daylights out of him.

But he wouldn't have her any other way.

Taking a deep breath, Orion reached out and rapped the door knocker loudly, and waited. Almost immediately, the door was thrown open, and Walburga stood there, staring down disdainfully at Orion.

His heart skipped a beat. Even though she was just wearing her nightclothes - a long nightgown and a thin dressing gown over the top - she looked radiant. Without taking a second glance, Orion dropped to his knee, and pulled out a small, velvet-adorned box from his pocket, popping it open.

"Will you marry me?" he spluttered, pushing forward the ring. It was antique in their family; an engagement ring made from Goblin-crafted silver, with a large emerald in the centre, surrounded with a cluster of sparkling diamonds.

Walburga blinked down at the ring for a few moments, one dark eyebrow arched. Just as sweat was beginning to trickle down Orion's forehead, she lunged forward, throwing her arms around his neck.

"Of course I will, you pumpkin-head," she replied, pressing a kiss to his cheek.

* * *

 **Written for the Weird Prompt competition.  
** **Prompt: (pairing) Walburga/Orion**


	5. Winter Postcard

Winter Postcard

Narcissa and Lucius didn't always have a picture perfect relationship.

Initially, Narcissa wasn't too fond of Lucius. He was too pretty, too fancy. She had her sights set much more on Rabastan; the younger brother of sister's husband. He was tall and manly, with thick dark hair, attractive stubble, and deep green eyes. Rabastan made Narcissa warm to her centre, with his bad boy image and rough, jagged edges.

But even though Rabastan offered his hand to Narcissa, her family insisted on turning him down. The Lestranges already had one of their sons promised to the Black family, whereas the Malfoys did not. Abraxas had been promised a Black daughter-in-law, and with Andromeda gone, the duty fell on Narcissa.

So, it was during the Christmas holidays of her final year at Hogwarts when she was subject to a day visit at the Malfoy Manor, while the Mr and Mrs Malfoy were taking a holiday in Cambodia.

Since arriving at the manor, the snow had been falling heavily, and Narcissa was utterly bored. Lucius had sat opposite her on the loveseat after presenting her with an exquisite bouquet of ice-white lilies, and had made just a few awkward attempts at idle small talk.

"I think we're snowed in," he said absently after a while, looking out of the large window, which was leaden with thick, white snow.

Narcissa rapped her fingers on the armrest of her chair, sighing heavily. The thought of being stuck at this manor with this dreadfully boring man for longer than was necessary made her temples ache.

"You did this on purpose, didn't you?" she shot venomously at Lucius, to which he raised an eyebrow smartly. "You've created some kind of - weather charm - to keep me here?"

Lucius rolled his eyes. "As if I would sink that low."

* * *

Word Count: 324

Speed Drabble prompts:

\- "I think we're snowed in"  
\- "As if I would sink that low"  
\- jagged


	6. Forbidden Confessions

**Forbidden Confessions**

 **Pairing:** Bellatrix/Alecto  
 **Word Count:** 346  
 **Written For:  
** \- Speed Drabble, prompts: (dialogue) "What are you doing?" (dialogue) "That is forbidden!"  
\- Gringotts Prompt Bank: (descriptor) Demanded, (descriptor) Beautiful. Orange is the New Black Quotes - (dialogue) "Rule number one. Don't ever fall in love with a straight girl."

* * *

Fifteen year old Bellatrix Black was alone with her friends at Grimmauld Place on Boxing Day, and she could smell something unusual coming from the room on the third floor that Amycus and Alecto had been staying in.

She tiptoed down the corridor until she reached the door, and pressed her ear to the wood. She could hear the low voices of the twins within, and the awful, pungent smell was stronger than ever. Taking a breath, she threw her weight into the door and burst inside, uninvited.

Amycus and Alecto were sitting on one bed, side by side. There was a large, glass water pipe on Amycus's lap, and he was using his wand to light one side of it with a flame. Bellatrix frowned in confusion as her brain momentarily tried to work out what was going on—but then it clicked. Rodolphus and Rabastan had tried the same stuff once before.

"What are you doing!" she demanded to know, storming across the bedroom, her black robes billowing around her. She snatched the water pipe out of Amycus's hand, and threw it into the dustbin at the other side of the room. It made a satisfying shattering sound as it smashed. "That is forbidden! How _dare_ you—do that—in the house of my fathers!"

Amycus was grinning lazily, but a blush had crept on Alecto's face. "I'm sorry, Bella," she began, her voice catching a little. "We thought...that seeing as the adults had gone out...we could...it was Amycus's idea."

"Snitch," snapped Amycus, turning to glare at his sister.

Bellatrix pursed her lips at the siblings, and turned on her heel to exit the bedroom. Before she could leave, Alecto piped up again. "Bellatrix?"

"What?"

"You're looking...quite pretty today," she murmured, her gaze falling to her fingernails. Bellatrix rolled her eyes, and walked out of the bedroom, closing the door behind her. She stood outside for a moment, listening as Amycus murmured something to his sister.

"Rule number one," he muttered, his voice barely audible through the thick wooden door. "Don't ever fall in love with the straight girl."


	7. Walburga's Loss

**Walburga** **'s Loss**

 **Written For:  
** \- Speed Drabble, prompts: (dialogue) "My deepest apologies", (word) devastated, (dialogue) "How is a woman supposed to cope?"  
 **Word Count:** 198

* * *

"My deepest apologies," murmured the low voice of Abraxas Malfoy, as he bowed deeply in front of Walburga. She observed him from beneath her dark veil, momentarily thankful that he couldn't see her scowl. He wasn't at all apologetic for her loss - in fact, Walburga knew that Abraxas had detached himself from his wife the moment he heard of Orion's passing. He had longed to marry into the Black fortune long ago, but Walburga would never give up her proud name. She rose her chin, gesturing for him to move on.

She was devastated. Surely enough, she had been the strong, matriarchal figure of the House of Black, and had ruled her kingdom with an iron fist. But Orion had always been in the background, no matter how deeply he was buried. He had always been there to catch her when she fell, and despite her stony exterior, she had loved him with all of her heart.

"How is a woman supposed to cope?" she murmured, watching as the guests of the wake milled around her drawing room. She was sure that nothing would ever fill the hole in her heart, not now that Orion had abandoned it.


End file.
